It is springtime, and that means another trip! I'm excited for yet another adventure overseas, and this time with company - 3 others, to be exact. There was no doubt that cycling would be part of this trip, and the destination of France somehow made its way into our conversations around mid-2014. As home to the largest cycling event in the world, the Tour de France, and the most famous culinary institution in the world, Cordon Bleu, why not?
Similar to my trip to Japan, we'll be spending one week cycling, but at the tail end of the 3 weeks. Trains will be the primary mode of transportation for the first 2 weeks, as we explore the Loire Valley, Paris, and Lyon. From there, we'll head to Avignon and bike the rest of the way to Nice and the French Riviera.
Flights and Accommodations
Flights were booked first, almost as soon as the idea of travelling to France was conceived. Then, because of my paranoia that the best accommodations get booked well in advance, we also nailed down a rough itinerary, made reservations with the bike tour company (Cyclomundo), and secured places to stay via Airbnb.
Research
Unlike Italy and Japan, I wasn't as infatuated with travelling to France and as such, didn't have any specific sights I wanted to see or places I wanted to visit. I decided to start by just searching online for top sights in France, which is where I discovered some pretty amazing castles and the gastronomic capital of the country - Lyon. Food! That was when my excitement began to grow. Since eating is my passion and I knew France would offer an amazing selection of food, I had lots of fun checking out restaurants all over the country on La Fourchette and mapping out where I wanted to eat.
Besides doing foodie research, reading through Rick Steve's guidebooks taught me a bit more about culture and what to reserve ahead of time - trains.
Reservations
From my experiences in Japan, there was no way I was travelling without a mobile WiFi hotspot. There are many services in France, so it was pretty simple making a reservation for the duration of the trip. I'm not linking a specific service here because I'm sure the various companies always jockey for being the cheapest option. (Another alternative to mobile WiFi is getting a SIM card - which is relatively easy and cheap. Just get a prepaid SIM, and all incoming calls are free along with text messaging.)
France has a fairly extensive railway system, and the best way (read: fastest) to get around is their high-speed TGV trains. As long as you know which trains you'll need ahead of time, making a reservation is easy on the SNCF website. According to Rick Steve, TGV trains get booked up so don't count on being able to just hop on a train last-minute. Also, from my calculations, reserving ahead of time also saves a bundle and made it easy to choose buying each ticket individually instead of buying a rail pass.
Since I had food as my top priority, I also realized that I would have to make reservations at the more popular restaurants. Luckily for me, most restaurants responded to email requests. Unfortunately, some of them required phone calls... and when in France, do as the French do, and speak French, right? With some help from my coworkers, I worked up the courage to converse en français. Apparently, this might not have been necessary as most restaurants will accommodate both English and French, but I hope it didn't hurt.
Packing
With each trip, I learn more about how to improve on packing. My goal is always to pack light - this time, I made sure to load up on dri-fit clothing so laundry will always be a breeze, and I ditched the energy gummies for cycling since I ended up bringing most of them back with me after my Japan trip. One addition this time around - I have brought one set of dress clothes with me... it's France after all. Suit up!
One huge tip: vacuum bags! Even if they aren't necessary for the trip to France, they'll definitely come in handy when making room for souvenirs to take home.
Another tip: don't bring anything you can easily buy there. Especially liquids and gels. I found that when I was in Italy, I really didn't need the plethora of travel-size toiletries because every convenience store carried whatever I was looking for in a non-annoying size. (Don't you hate squeezing the last bit of ___ out of a bottle?) Thus, for France, I will throw caution to the wind and try out whatever they use over there. Maybe it will be better than what we have in North America!
Less than a week to go - here's hoping it all goes well!
Similar to my trip to Japan, we'll be spending one week cycling, but at the tail end of the 3 weeks. Trains will be the primary mode of transportation for the first 2 weeks, as we explore the Loire Valley, Paris, and Lyon. From there, we'll head to Avignon and bike the rest of the way to Nice and the French Riviera.
Flights and Accommodations
Flights were booked first, almost as soon as the idea of travelling to France was conceived. Then, because of my paranoia that the best accommodations get booked well in advance, we also nailed down a rough itinerary, made reservations with the bike tour company (Cyclomundo), and secured places to stay via Airbnb.
Research
Unlike Italy and Japan, I wasn't as infatuated with travelling to France and as such, didn't have any specific sights I wanted to see or places I wanted to visit. I decided to start by just searching online for top sights in France, which is where I discovered some pretty amazing castles and the gastronomic capital of the country - Lyon. Food! That was when my excitement began to grow. Since eating is my passion and I knew France would offer an amazing selection of food, I had lots of fun checking out restaurants all over the country on La Fourchette and mapping out where I wanted to eat.
Besides doing foodie research, reading through Rick Steve's guidebooks taught me a bit more about culture and what to reserve ahead of time - trains.
Reservations
From my experiences in Japan, there was no way I was travelling without a mobile WiFi hotspot. There are many services in France, so it was pretty simple making a reservation for the duration of the trip. I'm not linking a specific service here because I'm sure the various companies always jockey for being the cheapest option. (Another alternative to mobile WiFi is getting a SIM card - which is relatively easy and cheap. Just get a prepaid SIM, and all incoming calls are free along with text messaging.)
France has a fairly extensive railway system, and the best way (read: fastest) to get around is their high-speed TGV trains. As long as you know which trains you'll need ahead of time, making a reservation is easy on the SNCF website. According to Rick Steve, TGV trains get booked up so don't count on being able to just hop on a train last-minute. Also, from my calculations, reserving ahead of time also saves a bundle and made it easy to choose buying each ticket individually instead of buying a rail pass.
Since I had food as my top priority, I also realized that I would have to make reservations at the more popular restaurants. Luckily for me, most restaurants responded to email requests. Unfortunately, some of them required phone calls... and when in France, do as the French do, and speak French, right? With some help from my coworkers, I worked up the courage to converse en français. Apparently, this might not have been necessary as most restaurants will accommodate both English and French, but I hope it didn't hurt.
Packing
With each trip, I learn more about how to improve on packing. My goal is always to pack light - this time, I made sure to load up on dri-fit clothing so laundry will always be a breeze, and I ditched the energy gummies for cycling since I ended up bringing most of them back with me after my Japan trip. One addition this time around - I have brought one set of dress clothes with me... it's France after all. Suit up!
One huge tip: vacuum bags! Even if they aren't necessary for the trip to France, they'll definitely come in handy when making room for souvenirs to take home.
Another tip: don't bring anything you can easily buy there. Especially liquids and gels. I found that when I was in Italy, I really didn't need the plethora of travel-size toiletries because every convenience store carried whatever I was looking for in a non-annoying size. (Don't you hate squeezing the last bit of ___ out of a bottle?) Thus, for France, I will throw caution to the wind and try out whatever they use over there. Maybe it will be better than what we have in North America!
Less than a week to go - here's hoping it all goes well!
Comments
"Don't you hate squeezing the last bit of ___ out of a bottle?"
Nope, cause I don't bother. Just kidding, I sort of do. But not too much.
One more day!!!!
More like, "One day more... another day, another destinyyyy-- ♪"